Collapsible tree stand

ABSTRACT

A collapsible stand for supporting a pole or the like vertically off the ground including three, generally triangularly shaped legs each of which has a substantially vertical side with tongues projecting from both ends thereof. A pair of connectors including three equally spaced, radially extending slots are provided, one for receiving the uppermost tongues of the legs and one for the lowermost tongues of the legs. Retaining means are provided for the connectors and the uppermost connector includes an aperture to provide access to an upwardly opening notch in each of the legs for receipt of a pole therein.

United States Patent 1 Petrie COLLAPSIBLE TREE STAND [76] Inventor:William E. Petrie, 5003 West 159th v Street, Oak Forest, 111. 60452 [22]Filed: Apr. 14, 1972 21 App]. No: 244,108

[52] U.S.CI..; 2.....248/48, 248/1887 [51.] Int. Cl. ..A47g 33/12 [58]Field of Search ..248/46, 47, 48, 150, 248/165,188.7

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,036,240 8/1912 Holden..248/165 X 1,114,100 10/1914 Blomberg ..248/165 X 3,655,156 4/1972Petrie ..248/48 1 May8, 1973 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 266,3902/1968 Austria ..248/165 Primary ExaminerWilliam l-l. SchultzAttorney-Axel A. Hofgren et al.

[57] ABSTRACT A collapsible stand for supporting a pole or the likevertically off the ground including three, generally triangularly shapedlegs each of which has a substantially vertical side with tonguesprojecting from both ends thereof. A pair of connectors including threeequally spaced, radially extending slots are provided, one for receivingthe uppermost tongues of the legs and one for the lowermost tongues ofthe legs. Retaining means are provided for the connectors and theuppermost connector includes an aperture to provide access to anupwardly opening notch in each of the legs for receipt of a poletherein.

7 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures COLLAPSIBLE TREE STAND BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION to Leedy; and German patent 19,420 to Trautsch.

As exemplified by the foregoing patents, it has been known to support apole-like object vertically off the ground by means of a pole receivingmember including a plurality of legs. While such structures havegenerally performed their intended function efficiently, they generallyare susceptible to a variety of drawbacks. For example, someconstructions are not collapsible, thus rendering storage difficult.Moreover, when such stands are to be used for supporting objects such asChristmas trees, and would therefore be sold in volume, because they arenot collapsible, they are extremely difficult and bulky to package. Thisfactor is a significant drawback in their commercial acceptance.

Others, while collapsible, frequently are not selfsustaining and/orunstable and therefore difficult to use.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is theprincipal object of this invention toprovide a new and improved stand for supporting a tree, pole or the likevertically off i the ground and which is completely collapsible,includes a minimum of parts and is extremely stable when assembled.

The exemplary embodiment of the invention achieves the foregoing objectby means of a construction including a plurality of legs, each generallytriangular in configuration. Each leg includes a generally verticallyextending side terminating at respective ends in upwardly and downwardlyextending tongues. The side is also provided with an upwardly openingnotch, the lower extremity of which is adapted to support the end of apole while the side extremity of which is adapted to firmly embrace theperiphery of a pole.

The legs are assembled by means of first and second connectors. Thefirst connector includes a plurality of radially extending slots equalin number to the number of legs employed. The slots are equally radiallyspaced and receive the downwardly projecting tongues on the legs. Asecond connector is also provided with radially extending slots that areequally radially spaced from each other and correspond in number to thenumber of legs employed. Slots in the second connector and adapted toreceive the outwardly extending tongues of the legs. The secondconnector is also provided with a central opening allowing access to apole receiving recess defined by the aforementioned notches in thevertical sides of each leg.

Retaining means are provided for retaining the connectors on the standin assembled configuration. Preferably, each of the tongues includes anaperture intermediate its length which aperture is adapted to threadedlyreceive a resilient wire loop which sandwiches the correspondingconnector against the adjacent edges of the legs.

According to one embodiment, a tubular adaptor may be employed to adaptthe pole receiving recess to receive poles of differing diameters.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the followingspecification taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side' elevation of a pole standmade according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of a leg employed in the stand;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a first connector;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of a second connector; and

FIG. 5 is a plan view of a resilient retainer used in conjunction withthe connectors.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT With reference to FIG. 1, anexemplary embodiment of a stand made according to the invention is seento be to be comprised of a plurality of legs, generally designated 10,and normally three in number; a first connector element, generallydesignated 12, for securing the undersides of the legs 10 together; asecond connector element, generally designated 14, for securing theupper ends of the legs 10 together; a pair of retaining means, eachgenerally designated 16, one for each of the connectors 12 and 14' tohold the same in place, and optionally, a pole size adaptor, generallydesignated 18.

Referring now to FIG. 2, the legs 10 will be described with theunderstanding that each is identical to the other. Specifically, eachleg 10 is formed of a suitable sheet material as, for example, plywoodor plastic. In the case of the latter material for additional strength,it may be desirable to provide stiffening ribs (not shown) foradditional strength. Each leg 10 is in the general form of a righttriangle, although such obviouslyis not the case in the strictest sense.Specifically, each leg includes a generally vertical side 20 terminatingat its upper end in an upwardly extending tongue 22 and terminating atits lower end in a downwardly extending tongue 24. Each vertical side 20is also provided with an upwardly opening cut-out or notch, generallydesignated 26, having a generally horizontal lowermost boundary 28 and avertical boundary 30. As will be seen, the horizontal boundary 28 servesas a seat for the end of a pole to be received in the stand while thevertical boundary 30 embraces the side of the pole for stability. If anadaptor such as that illustrated at 18 in FIG. 1 is employed, thevertical boundary 30 will, of course, not embrace the pole, but ratherthe adaptor 18, as will be described in greater detail hereinafter.

Formed in the hypotenuse side 32 of each leg 10 adjacent the upwardlyextending tongue 22, is a horizontal surface 34 which seats the secondconnector 14. A similar seat is defined by a downwardly notch 36 in thehorizontal side 38 of each leg to receive the first connector 12.

In addition, each of the tongues 22 and 24 is pro vided with an aperture40 which cooperates with the retaining means 16 as will be seen.

It is preferable that the horizontal side 38 of each leg be formed witha horizontal segment 42 near its outermost extremity and a relievedportion 44 extending from the segment 42 inwardly to the vertical side20. By reason of this configuration, in use, only the horizontal segment42 will actually be in contact with the supporting surface so that theweight of the pole, etc., being supported by the stand will bedistributed to the outermost reaches of the stand to maximize stability.

Turning now to FIG. 3, the first connector 12 is seen to be hexagonal inshape and, as can be observed from FIG. 1, is formed of sheet materialalong the lines of the sheet material employed in the legs 10. Aplurality of slots 46 extend through the first connector 12, aregenerally radially oriented, are equal in number to the number of legsemployed, and are equally radially spaced with respect to each other. Ascan be perceived from FIG. 1, the slots 46 receive corresponding ones ofthe tongues 24 on the legs 10.

FIG. 4 illustrates the second connector 14 in greater detail and, ittoo, is seen to be generally hexagonal in shape and also formed of sheetmaterial. The second connector 14 includes a plurality of slots 48again, equal in number to the number of legs employed, radiallyextending, and radially equally spaced with respect to each other. Theslots 48, as can be perceived from FIG. 1, are adapted to receive thetongues 22 on corresponding ones of the legs.

The second connector 14 is also provided with a central aperture 50,which, when assembled with the legs 10, will be aligned with thevertical boundaries 30 of the notches 26 in the three legs 10 so as todefine an opening through which a pole may be placed to be received in apole receiving recess defined by the notches 26 of the legs 10.

FIG. 5 illustrates the retaining means 16. In particular, the retainingmeans 16 comprise a loop of resilient wire 52 having one end 54 slightlyspaced from a redirected portion 56 of the opposite end 58. Theredirected portion 56 provides a grasping portion for the retainingmeans to allow the free end 54 to be threaded through the apertures 40after the connectors 12 and 14 are in place in such a way as to sandwichthe associated connector against the legs 10.

Returning now to FIGv 1, the adaptor 18 is simply a tubular memberhaving an outer diameter approximating the dimensions of the polereceiving recess defined by the notches 26 and an inner diametercorresponding to the diameter of the pole to be supported in the stand.When the adaptor 18 is employed, it is inserted through the aperture 50in the second connector 14 to be seated in the pole receiving recess andthe pole to be supported may then simply be disposed within the tube.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing description that a stand madeaccording to the invention requires a minimum number of parts and iseasily assembled or disassembled for storage or the like. Moreover,since all parts, with the exception of the optional adaptor 18, areso-called flat parts, the stand may be easily packaged with a minimum ofbulk.

It will be recognized from the various structural features mentionedabove that the stand provides unusual stability in that it does not relyon compression against the pole received therein and in that theconnector parts are positively held in place by the retaining meansMoreover, the upper retaining means 16 serve, when the stand does notcontain a pole, to maintain proper spacing of the upper ends of the legsto allow the easy insertion of a pole without simultaneous manipulationof parts of the stand.

I claim:

1. A collapsible stand for poles, trees, or the like comprising: atleast three leg elements, each leg element being generally triangular inshape and having a generally vertically extending side, a first,downwardly extending tongue extending from the lower end of said side, asecond, upwardly extending tongue extending from the upper end of saidside, and an upwardly open cutout in said side; a first connector memberincluding a plurality of radially extending slots extendingtherethrough, said slots being equally spaced from each other and equalin number to the number of said legs, each of said slots receiving acorresponding one of said first tongues; a second connector memberincluding a plurality of radially extending slots, the slots in saidsecond connecting member being equal in number to the number of legs,being equally radially spaced from each other and receivingcorresponding ones of said second tongues of said legs, said secondconnector member further including a central opening aligned with theupwardly opening cutouts of said legs and adapted to permit a pole toextend therethrough to seat in said cutouts; and retaining means forholding saidtongues in corresponding ones of said slots.

2. A stand according to claim 1 wherein each of said tongues includes anaperture intermediate its length and said retaining means includes anelement threaded through said apertures to sandwich the correspondingone of said connector elements against said legs.

3. A stand according to claim 2 wherein said threaded element comprisesa resilient wire loop.

4. A stand according to claim 1 wherein each of said legs includes agenerally horizontally extending side defined by a radially outwardlyhorizontal segment and a radially inwardly relieved portion wherebyweight of the stand and a pole or the like applied to a support surfacewill be applied substantially only at the outermost extent of said standto increase the stability thereof.

5. The stand of claim 1 wherein there are two said retaining means, onefor said first connector member and one for said second connectormember, the retaining means for said second connector member serving tomaintain said second tongues in a predetermined position within theslots of said second connector member so as allow free entry of a poleinto a pole receiving recess defined by said cutouts.

6. A stand according to claim 1 wherein each of said legs includes ahorizontal surface adjacent said second tongue thereon for seating saidsecond connector member.

7. A stand according to claim 1 wherein each of said legs includes adownwardly opening notch adjacent said first tongue for receiving saidfirst connector member.

* l l III l

1. A collapsible stand for poles, trees, or the like comprising: atleast three leg elements, each leg element being generally triangular inshape and having a generally vertically extending side, a first,downwardly extending tongue extending from the lower end of said side, asecond, upwardly extending tongue extending from the upper end of saidside, and an upwardly open cutout in said side; a first connector memberincluding a plurality of radially extending slots extendingtherethrough, said slots being equally spaced from each other and equalin number to the number of said legs, each of said slots receiving acorresponding one of said first tongues; a second connector memberincluding a plurality of radially extending slots, the slots in saidsecond connecting member being equal in number to the number of legs,being equally radially spaced from each other and receivingcorresponding ones of said second tongues of said legs, said secondconnector Member further including a central opening aligned with theupwardly opening cutouts of said legs and adapted to permit a pole toextend therethrough to seat in said cutouts; and retaining means forholding said tongues in corresponding ones of said slots.
 2. A standaccording to claim 1 wherein each of said tongues includes an apertureintermediate its length and said retaining means includes an elementthreaded through said apertures to sandwich the corresponding one ofsaid connector elements against said legs.
 3. A stand according to claim2 wherein said threaded element comprises a resilient wire loop.
 4. Astand according to claim 1 wherein each of said legs includes agenerally horizontally extending side defined by a radially outwardlyhorizontal segment and a radially inwardly relieved portion wherebyweight of the stand and a pole or the like applied to a support surfacewill be applied substantially only at the outermost extent of said standto increase the stability thereof.
 5. The stand of claim 1 wherein thereare two said retaining means, one for said first connector member andone for said second connector member, the retaining means for saidsecond connector member serving to maintain said second tongues in apredetermined position within the slots of said second connector memberso as allow free entry of a pole into a pole receiving recess defined bysaid cutouts.
 6. A stand according to claim 1 wherein each of said legsincludes a horizontal surface adjacent said second tongue thereon forseating said second connector member.
 7. A stand according to claim 1wherein each of said legs includes a downwardly opening notch adjacentsaid first tongue for receiving said first connector member.